It's going to get weird if the AHL isn't up and running when the season starts...like I guess the guys that get cut are just going to hang around and practice?
I am very confident that
a) there will not be an AHL that starts at the same time as the NHL, if at all
b) there will be a taxi-squad situation where rosters are expanded to allow for extra goalies and skaters; active roster needs to be cap compliant; inactive roster has cap relief up to the usual amount (1.075M)
c) schedule will be compressed into Jan to July extremely optimistically, with an early August draft